Mapping Curatorial Content

Maps and diagrams are thinking tools that can help visualize stories. This collaborative project started with a conversation about Alfred Barr—curator, art historian, and founding director of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. In 1936, Barr published a famous diagram describing one version of the evolution of abstract art. Curators today can continue to use maps and diagrams to visualize relationships among artists, artifacts, processes, and communities.

This project invited MFA candidates from the courses Graphic Design Studio II and Interdisciplinary Approaches to Curatorial Practice to explore ideas about artistic influence and the evolution of ideas by visualizing relationships. Students from the two programs worked in cross-disciplinary teams to map areas of mutual interest. Initially, the Curatorial Practice students prepared a body of content to visualize which they presented to Graphic Design students. Students then meet together to imagine a visualization of that content. Graphic Design students took the lead in the design component. A team of students installed the completed maps for an exhibit at MICA which opened April 19th, 2013.